Deacon Jacob Martini 
Birth Date
June 25
Parish Location
St. Patrick, Ottawa
Year entered the Seminary/Class of
Entered in 2018, Class of 2024
Studying at
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD
Why did you become a seminarian?
It started when I was in adoration on my senior retreat in high school. Something happened that can only be described as an encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ. In that moment, everything that I had been taught in my Catholic education made sense. C.S. Lewis puts it perfectly when he says, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” This set a fire and joy in my heart that I did not want to let go of and I knew the only way to continue to have it was following God’s will for my life. For this reason, I stopped asking the question, “What do I want to do with my life?” and started asking, “What does God want me to do?” It was around this time that I had a feeling that God was calling me to the seminary. After growing in my faith at Bradley University with the help of the St. Joseph Newman Center, I knew that God was calling me to discern priesthood.
Before you entered the seminary, what were you doing?
I was a Resident Advisor, Student Admissions Representative, Head of the Liturgy Committee, involved in the Knights of Columbus, and completing my Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Bradley University.
An interesting fact about you
I am in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.